Paranoia
by Blakstag07
Summary: "You don't know who [Voldemort's] supporters are, you don't know who's working for him and who isn't; you know that he can control people so that they can do terrible things without being able to stop themselves. You're scared for yourself, and your family, and your friends." - Sirius Black, GoF Because allegiances were made to be broken - Sirius Black knew this well.
1. Prologue

_"Imagine that Voldemort's powerful now. You don't know who his supporters are, you don't know who's working for him and who isn't; you know that he can control people so that they can do terrible things without being able to stop themselves. You're scared for yourself, and your family, and your friends. Every week, news comes of more deaths, more disappearances, more torturing… the Ministry of Magic's in disarray, they don't know what to do, they're trying to keep everything hidden from the Muggles, but meanwhile, Muggles are dying too. Terror everywhere… panic… confusion… that's how it used to be."_

- Sirius Black, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", pg. 526-7

**Prologue**

It was no secret that James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin were the greatest pranksters to ever grace Hogwarts' halls. For reasons unbeknownst to the rest of the school, they called themselves "The Marauders", complete with odd nicknames and indecipherable inside jokes. At times like these, when fear plagued the Wizarding world, teachers would often turn a blind eye to their relatively harmless pranks. It was becoming only too obvious just how much a little laughter was truly needed for the students. Yes, there were those pranks that were a tad extreme, resulting in the docking of points and the doling of detentions, but for the most part their mischief was widely appreciated by those around to witness it.

What wasn't common knowledge, however, was that within these walls, the four were also part of a larger organization run by Professor Dumbledore himself: The Order of the Phoenix.

The Order of the Phoenix was a secret society dedicated to fighting the Death Eaters and stopping Lord Voldemort. This group was largely comprised of undercover Ministry officials and newly graduated Hogwarts students. There were Healers from St. Mungo's as well as Auror trainees. Even a few amongst the Hogwarts staff were part of it.

The Marauders were the Order's chief recruiters. Every now and then, they would identify someone (usually a Gryffindor) that they felt would be a valuable addition to the organization. Peter would spy on them, Remus would research into their background and Sirius would chat up some of the more reliable gossips for information (which they were very, _very_ willing to provide). Finally, with Dumbledore's approval, James would approach them with an offer.

The Order did good work and paid well. And so, despite the death toll, everyone who was made an offer accepted without a second thought.

Sounds easy enough, right? It wasn't. The Marauders had to be extremely careful not to let anyone know what they were up to. It couldn't appear as though they were anything but the lovable pranksters the general public assumed they were. But more importantly, they could not afford to slip up even once with their choices - recruiting a traitor could prove to be deadly. The pressure was unprecedented and visibly took its toll on all four of them. In an effort to hide this from the rest of the school, they doubled up on their ingrained personalities: James was twice as loud, Sirius was twice as flirty, Remus was twice as studious and Peter ate twice as much cheese. Most people chalked this up to hormones; however, the teachers who were part of the Order understood exactly what the cause of it all was.

So when one of the four occasionally failed to hand in a Transfiguration assignment on time or showed up to class ten minutes late looking like death warmed over, Professor McGonagall was prone to reprimanding them mildly at most.

When the Marauders were alone, they were four different people. James was serious, Sirius brooded, Remus seemed far, far away, and Peter looked frightened for his life.

They were teenagers. They hadn't even finished their OWLs, for crying out loud! Their greatest concerns at their age should have been classes, Quidditch and girls.

The war was changing everyone, and the Marauders were only the first of what was sure to be countless more.

Albus Dumbledore was many things. He was wise, humorous, kind and, to the surprise (and in some cases, disgust) of many a Hogwarts student, gay.

Albus Dumbledore was not a fool.

He was only too aware of the activities of some of the older Slytherins. All he lacked was proof. How could the headmaster of Hogwarts possibly get his hands on this information discreetly? Most of the members of The Order of the Phoenix were adults, and he knew very well that students, especially those up to no good, were highly unlikely to trust adults with anything of real value.

This was where the Marauders came in. Convinced that they were his best bet to join the fighting ranks once out of Hogwarts, Albus decided that, in addition to their recruitment responsibilities, they would also be his eyes and ears within the school.

While they were willing to do whatever they could, even the Marauders knew that there was no possible way that the Slytherins would ever trust them. They would have to rely on stealth and subterfuge to gather any sort of information.

And yet even this was not enough. There was no way to get into the inner workings of the Slytherin gang – unless you were a Slytherin yourself.

Albus came to understand this. After several meetings and extensive research, Albus Dumbledore came to the conclusion that there was only one solution. It was dangerous, terrifying and had potentially fatal ramifications. He knew there was no other way.

It was a warm summer's night when Dumbledore requested James Potter's presence in his office.

**A/N: So yeah, this is the prologue of a new story. Unlike my other ones, I'm definitely carrying through with this tale :) Let me know what you think. I'll be updating sporadically, so follow if you're liking it so far!**


	2. Chapter 1

Regulus Black lived a simple life.

Sure, he was now the heir of The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. Sure, he was Slytherin's star Quidditch player. Sure, he was part of a dangerous group of people known as the Death Eaters.

But apart from that, he led a simple life.

Unlike most of the other Death Eaters at Hogwarts, Regulus never tortured ickle firsties in the corridors or picked on muggleborns and blood traitors.

He turned his homework in on time, listened to his teachers and behaved responsibly. He was a Prefect – perhaps the only Slytherin prefect to _not_ abuse his power.

Slytherin house loved him, his family loved him, his teachers loved him – everything was going well for Regulus Black.

Or so it seemed. Internally, Regulus was fighting a constant battle.

He had joined the Death Eaters during his fifth year. Regulus' beliefs were very simple – he hated muggles and muggleborns, loved the Dark Lord and all his followers. When he became a Death Eater, he had thought – well, he hadn't really known what to think, really, but he knew for sure that he didn't want to kill anyone while he was at school. For reasons unknown even to him, he simply could not bring himself to hurt any of the students at Hogwarts. In his mind, he had deemed them almost innocent.

This fact had not gone unnoticed. Severus Snape had begun pressuring him to take a more active role in their activities at Hogwarts. Home was no different. The moment he returned home the summer before sixth year, his parents began to lecture him on his behavior.

Orion had worn a turban (to keep his scalp warm) since Regulus was seven. As Orion scolded his son, the dangling extension shook violently.

As dire as the situation was, Regulus was struggling to keep his laughter at bay.

When it was his mother's turn, however, Regulus struggled not to cover his ears. Walburga was a cruel woman, and even though Regulus loved her dearly, he would be the first (after Sirius) to admit that she was a poor mother.

Regulus somehow managed to appease his parents ("Mother, father, there is nothing to be concerned about – I simply feel unworthy of the great honor of torturing the Mudbloods, given my age and inferior status within the Death Eaters' ranks" – this explanation pleased them greatly) and was allowed to go to his room to unpack.

The first thing that caught his eye when he walked in was the collage of newspaper clippings about the Dark Lord. Regulus sighed. Some days, he wasn't sure that being a Death Eater was all it was cracked up to be. He loved the idea of finally achieving pureblood supremacy once and for all. He wanted them to know and accept their place in the world. He sincerely believed that Mudbloods were unworthy of magic and would do anything in his power to take that away from them.

However, when he was alone, away from questions and watchful eyes, there was one persistent doubt. _Was killing and torturing them really going to change anything?_

Yes, Regulus could understand it as a sport. He could see how the embarrassment and humiliation would serve to psychologically lower many Mudbloods' opinions of their kind.

But real change could not be achieved this way – he was more than certain of that fact. He had only ever voiced his opinions once before, in the confidence of his closest friend: Aria Fawley.

Aria's family was one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, making her one of the most coveted girls of the house of Slytherin.

Not that Regulus necessarily _wanted_ her – he had only noted this while struggling not to hex quite a few fellow Death Eaters for their blatantly lewd comments.

Aria, too, was a Death Eater – however, being a female student, she had not yet been marked. The Dark Lord refused to mark any female follower until she had proven herself soon after graduation.

The two of them, along with their good friend Bea Shafiq, formed a formidable trio within their house. Well-liked and well-respected, they suffered no teasing or hexing (even from the Gryffindors).

Bea was known for being completely and utterly wild. She _adored_ hexing other students for no apparent reason. She was Slytherin in the way that she did everything for her own benefit. She was an excellent manipulator of situations and managed to get the three out of several detentions over the years. She also had a penchant for drugs, something that Regulus and Aria had tried (and failed) to rid her of on many an occasion.

Aria, on the other hand, was more relaxed. She was probably the most intelligent and calculative of the three. Where Bea manipulated situations, Aria manipulated _people_. Regulus would never tell her (at times he was deathly scared of her), but she did this rather often, and could be slightly cruel about it. It was almost as though she had her own agenda and used people to help it along.

However, she was still more trustworthy than anyone else he'd ever known. And so, it was Aria whom Regulus had first approached with his feelings.

It had taken a little while for her to respond.

"Reg," she had said cautiously, "why are you bringing this up now?"

"What has actually changed since we joined up?" Regulus had asked, frustrated. "I'll tell you what - nothing! So what's the whole point of all this – just a bit of fun? A good laugh?"

Aria's blue eyes widened. "What are you saying, Regulus? Are you going to quit?"

Regulus frowned. "Maybe."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Teeth gritted, she'd said, "You can't."

He raised his eyebrows. "Really? Just you try and stop me."

Aria shook her head. "No, no, that's not what I said. I meant that you literally can't. Not if you want to live."

Regulus was struck dumb.

Aria continued, "This may be hard to believe, but do you remember Thomas Bulstrode?"

Warily, Regulus nodded.

"He wanted out. The Dark Lord does not like cowards, nor does he appreciate betrayals."

Regulus had scoffed. "So what, he _killed_ Thomas?"

Aria laughed. "Oh, Regulus. If only it were so simple. No, first he tortured him using the Cruciatus curse. Repeatedly. Only once he begged for death, _screamed_ for it to end, did Voldemort finally show him mercy."

Regulus paled. "He used the Killing Curse?"

"No, Thomas wasn't _worthy_ of dying at the Dark Lord's own hand. Regulus – Voldemort fed him to Nagini."

The matter was never spoken of again.

Regulus could remember a simpler time, maybe a decade ago, when life was just Reg and Sirius, brothers, playing together, coming up with wonderful pranks on the house elves.

He remembered how they would put dungbombs in the spare bedrooms for the elves to set off when Walburga would force them to pointlessly tidy the rooms up. The look on Kreacher's face that time when about thirty went off at once!

He could never forget the way Sirius said to him, right before he ran away - "I'll come back for you, brother, I promise."

Nor could he forget how Sirius' face had almost caved in on itself when he coldly replied, "You're nothing more than a filthy blood traitor. You are no brother of mine."

That night, Regulus had cried himself to sleep for the first time since he was a child.

The rest of Regulus' summer break was spent at pureblood gatherings and Death Eater meetings. The Dark Lord himself graced his Death Eaters with his presence at these meetings, and even began to allow the attendance of his unmarked followers.

For this reason, Aria and Bea were present at several meetings – each on either side of Regulus. Not that he would ever admit it, but the Dark Lord terrified him and he found their presence reassuring.

On the last night of the summer before sixth year, he found himself lying on the rooftop with Aria and Bea. His parents were having yet another party for the purebloods of England, and he had decided early on that he'd rather have fun with his best friends than dance with the likes of Priscilla Parkinson.

Aria and Bea were the two people he was always honest with. He never felt the need to speak the way he'd been taught to. With them, he complained, swore, and even talked about his brother: how he'd felt when Sirius had left – and how a tiny part of him possibly regretted not going with him.

The two girls, being the good friends that they were, _listened_. They didn't judge him or try to change his mind. Most importantly, they never told anyone any of the things he said, for if they did, Regulus would probably become Nagini's next meal.

Bea had already passed out (but from the pot or the exhaustion, Regulus couldn't quite tell) and so Aria and Regulus sat together, saying very little.

"Regulus," Aria began softly, "I'm sorry if I scared you earlier with what I said about Thomas. I just thought that you had to know just in case…" she trailed off, not finishing her statement, but Regulus knew exactly what she meant.

"Relax, Ari," Regulus replied, "I was just shocked, I suppose."

She nodded and they resumed staring at the night sky.

A few minutes later, she turned towards him and said, "Do you regret it?"

"What?" Regulus asked, pretending he hadn't understood what she was referring to.

"Signing up. Becoming one of _them_," she said, almost timidly.

Regulus was tempted. He could tell her the truth right there. He could tell her about how he shared their ideals. He could tell her all about _his_ vision for the world and how getting there would not involve torturing and killing.

"We are them, Aria. And it would do you good to remember that," he instead said sharply.

She flinched. "I haven't forgotten. How could I? Every time we pass by Severus in the hallways, he leers at us, like he's checking to make sure that we're still on the right side. Each time you roll your sleeves up, the Mark is there, and it's almost as if it's staring at me, saying, _you're next, Aria_."

Regulus was surprised. "It sounds to me like you're having second thoughts as well."

She was quick to deny it. "No, of course not! I think we're doing the right thing. It's just that-"she cut herself off as she blushed.

"What?" Regulus asked curiously.

She hesitated. "Our mums have been talking, you know."

Regulus realized what she was leading up to, yet made no attempt to interrupt.

Aria sighed. "They want us to get married, I think."

Regulus shrugged. "Would that be so bad?"

She smiled. "No, maybe not. But you're betrothed to Bea!"

Regulus often forgot this fact. At the time of their betrothal, Regulus had been so young that the actual wedding had seemed decades away. Now, however, everything seemed to be happening at lightning speed.

He shrugged. "Bea won't care." And it was true – she wouldn't. Everyone knew that for whatever reason, the young Shafiq had her sights set on Severus Snape (who was too obviously wrapped up in Lily Evans to notice).

Aria responded slowly, "The thing is…"

He pressed her further. "What is it?"

"Only one member from each supremacist family has to take the Mark," Aria whispered.

Regulus paused. "I don't understand," he said slowly.

"If you were to marry, and _soon_, she would never have to _really_ become one of them – I mean us."

He didn't know what to think. "But what about you?"

Aria shrugged. "When we signed up for this, I came in with an exit strategy. Neither one of us had any idea what we were in for, and I didn't want any surprises. I'll manage."

After a bit of thought, Regulus said, "Will you want to take the Mark?"

"I don't think so," she conceded.

"Then _we_ should get married," he said simply. "Think about it. It's only a matter of time before the other side starts fighting back."

Aria slowly realized what he was getting at. "And if you die in battle, I'll be able to play the grieving widow and make a tearful exit from the fold."

Regulus shoved her playfully. "You'll _play_ the grieving widow?"

"Of course!" she laughed, "I would never waste _real_ sorrow on the likes of you, Black."

"Then perhaps I shouldn't marry you, Fawley. When I die, I want to be remembered as the man who did something, not the man whose wife made off with his money and the butler the second he kicked the bucket."

"REG!" Aria gasped, pretending to be outraged.

An hour and several witty jokes later, Aria had her head on Regulus' shoulder, and he'd rested his head on top of hers.

"Honestly though, I think you should marry Bea."

"Why?" Regulus asked curiously.

"Bea and I have been talking. She – she's not like you and I, you know. If either one of us ever wanted to leave, we would know how to smile and bear with it, but Bea… she'd fall apart, and _he_ would seize upon that in an instant. She'd be dead in hours. Being with you… that would give her some hope," Aria said with conviction.

"That's very Gryffindor of you," he said, snorting.

Aria rolled her eyes. "Don't change the subject. You're marrying Bea and that's that."

Looking from Aria's weary face to Bea's sleeping form, Regulus realized that he would do anything for these girls. He knew that his life would be empty without them. He needed Aria's rationality and Bea's strangeness to keep him sane. But more than that, these were the two people he'd give his life for in a heartbeat.

So hey, maybe he had a little Gryffindor in him too. Was _that_ so bad?

**A/N: I know that chapter one was originally chapter two, and vice versa, but once I'd written it all down, it made more sense to use this instead. **

**Ummm review? Follow? Favorite? 3**


	3. Chapter 2

_**James never told anyone what happened that fateful night. **_

But everyone knew something was different. He was becoming more distant. He received owls at odd hours and often went off by himself without letting anyone else know where he was going. He even stopped asking Lily Evans out. No one had any idea what was going on.

One day, the other three decided that enough was enough. When James returned from one of his late night excursions, he was greeted by the sight of his three best friends with their arms folded and faces solemn.

Remus was the first to speak. Very simply, he said, "James, we're all worried about you."

"Yeah Prongs!" piped up Peter, "What's been going on? Let us in!"

Sirius remained silent, merely watching the reaction of the boy he considered to be his brother.

James looked at each of their faces and sighed. "I can't tell you what I've been up to."

Remus raised an eyebrow.

"I swore I wouldn't," James simply said.

Sirius chose that moment to speak. "I didn't realize that it extended to us."

"I don't have to tell you lot everything that goes on in my life," James said defensively. "Aren't I allowed a few secrets of my own?"

Sirius' cool grey eyes suddenly blazed. "We tell each other everything, Prongs. Moony told us about his furry little problem. Peter told us about his unhealthy cheese obsession. I even told everyone about what went on back home with my family! Secrets sow dissension. Isn't that what you always said?"

James uneasily replied, "Padfoot, this may be the one time that keeping a secret may actually keep us safe."

Remus appeared to think about this for a moment before saying, "But are you safe, James?"

"Yes," the bespectacled teen responded unconvincingly, "I'm in no danger at all."

Unwilling to argue any further, his friends left it at that. Soon, they learned not to disturb him when he disappeared once a week. They stopped trying to sneak peeks at his letters. Few outside of the group had noticed, and no questions were asked.

Sirius Black was not so easily deterred from finding out the truth. For the life of him, he could not understand why James was keeping something to himself.

Clearly, it was important, or he wouldn't have been so secretive about it.

_Had James finally gone and got himself a girlfriend?_

Sirius dismissed this theory at once. James was still clearly head over heels for Lily Evans, and it was blatantly obvious that she'd rather sleep with the giant squid than go within five yards of him.

Plus, James would have been bouncing off the walls with joy. It would've been utterly unbearable.

Pulling that prank on Snape on that terrifying full moon night had a dual motive. While Sirius had enjoyed the idea of scaring Snivellus so much that he wet his pants, he had also hoped that maybe, just maybe, it would bring James out of himself.

It certainly did, but in a way Sirius could have never anticipated.

For the first time in his life, James was **furious** at Sirius for what he had done. Not only had he betrayed their friend, but he could've gotten Snape killed! However much James hated Snape, he refused to let him _die_.

It took almost three weeks before James would even look at Sirius, but by the time they finally mended their friendship, the "James situation", as they'd taken to calling it, had only gotten more severe.

Sirius missed James. While all four boys were close, it was generally accepted that Sirius and James shared a kind of deeper connection that the others could not even begin to understand. It was the constant envy of Peter, who now felt guiltily pleased at the turn of events.

Sirius was relieved when sixth year finally ended. Once they were back at the Potters', maybe James would finally go back to normal.

Maybe he would have his best friend back.

Unfortunately, this was not to be the case. James continued his strange behavior, leaving the Potter mansion without warning and owling continuously at night. Sometimes, Sirius thought he heard voices coming from the loo when James was in there.

However withdrawn the quartet had become over the course of their work for the Order, they **never** abandoned each other. They had no secrets and could always count on each other if they ever needed anything.

Seventh year was well under way by the time Sirius decided that enough was enough.

Sirius Black was going to follow James tonight, and he'd be damned if he didn't figure out what the hell was going on with his best friend.

So when James stepped out of the portrait hole that night, Sirius only felt mildly guilty about using his own Invisibility cloak against him. It was against the Marauders' code to use their map to spy on another Marauder (plus James wouldn't let it out of his sight), but that didn't mean that Sirius couldn't follow him.

Sirius quietly followed James, making sure not to accidentally bump into a suit of armor or, even worse, Mrs. Norris. Sirius began to recognize the path James was on, and as he watched his friend tickle the pear on the portrait guarding the entrance to the kitchens, Sirius felt rather foolish. He immediately turned around and began to head back to the common room. However, not even two minutes later, James passed him by. At first, Sirius assumed that James was bringing a snack back to their dormitory. However, as he silently trudged along, he realized that their course was taking them away from the common room and towards… the seventh floor.

What could James possibly want there?

James finally came to stand in front of a portrait. Sirius vaguely recognized it as a depiction of a silly wizard who tried to teach trolls to dance.

James then proceeded to pace back and forth, from the window at one side of the opposite wall, to the ostentatious vase and the other side.

Sirius seriously questioned whether or not his best mate had gone completely mental.

This continued several times. It was when Sirius began to consider taking James to St. Mungo's when, out of nowhere, a large, highly polished wooden door appeared on the wall.

Sirius couldn't believe that James had found something like this and _hadn't shared it with the rest of them_.

James eagerly twisted the brass doorknob open. Sirius sneakily slipped past James before he could close the door behind him. James paused for a second, almost as if he had felt something, then shook it off and took a seat.

Sirius took a moment to look around at this clearly magical room.

The room was a myriad of reds and golds. The walls looked to be soft and velvety. At the center of the room, there were several giant squashy sofa chairs grouped around a large coffee table. Noting the similarity between the Room of Requirement's current state and the Gryffindor common room, Sirius looked around for the latter's most welcoming feature. Sure enough, on the other side of the room, several logs burned in a large fireplace.

It was warm and cozy, not unlike their common room. Sirius felt safe, and then realized that it had been quite a while since he last felt that way. In between the horrors that his parents had put him through and the stress of being in the Order, Sirius had had very little time to actually take a breather and calm down. He realized that perhaps James was feeling the same way.

It was almost as if the room knew exactly what James needed.

Sirius watched curiously as James pulled out a variety of boxes with food in them. He could see mince pies, mashed potatoes and treacle tart, amongst other things. James was infamous for eating twice his weight at every meal, but _surely_ he wasn't going to eat all that by himself?

Sirius considered taking the cloak off (in the interests of not being wasteful, of course) but thought better of it.

As James placed the last tub on the coffee table (ice cream), Sirius noticed that he made no move to touch any of the food. Instead, he leaned back, took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes wearily. Then he began to take his shirt off.

… What the hell?

Sirius was relieved when James put on a red sweater. For a second there, he'd thought that his best friend was going to strip naked.

They were close, but they weren't _that_ close.

James then did something very un-James like.

He sat still. For thirty whole minutes.

Sirius was beginning to get tired and frankly, rather irritated. Looking at all the food all the table was making him hungry.

He couldn't sit on the floor without making some kind of noise.

He couldn't sit on one of the plushy armchairs without making a butt impression.

Finally, he decided to carefully shift into dog form and hope that the cloak wouldn't move as he did so.

Just before he could carry out his plan, however, the door suddenly opened and Sirius saw James get up. With the widest smile Sirius had ever seen him sport, James happily said, "Aria, Bea! I brought food!"

And in walked two girls with robes lined in green and silver.

_Slytherins._


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: To my friends reading this story – look, this is the first time I'm writing a proper fanfic. When it comes to certain parts of this story (especially anything even **_**remotely**_** romantic), it's going to be awkward for me to write. I can promise you that already. A lot of the scenes will be derivative from other fanfiction, so please, PLEASE, don't judge me. I have very little firsthand experience, haha.**

**I'm thrilled to finally have followers. Woohoo!**

Sirius stayed frozen. He had no idea how to properly respond in this sort of situation.

He had one of three choices.

Rip off the cloak and storm out angrily.

Leave the cloak on and storm out quietly.

Leave the cloak on and listen in, giving James the benefit of the doubt.

Sirius knew his best mate. Whatever this was, there had to be a good reason for it. Option c it was.

He watched as Aria Fawley and Bea Shafiq sat in two of the plushy armchairs. The latter took out a cigarette and lit it, taking a long drag before blowing out smoke. Fawley grabbed a slice of pie and took a bit, letting out an appreciative moan.

"This is good stuff, Potter," Fawley said cheerfully.

James laughed. "I thought we were past surnames, Fawley."

She shrugged. "Old habits die hard."

Sirius had known Aria for most of his life. When they were younger, they had been friends, even. Despite the age difference, the two of them had been extremely close. They had even been betrothed at a point. He found himself recalling a conversation the two of them had had the night before he left for Hogwarts.

_Sirius and Aria were on the rooftop of Number 12 Grimmauld Place, lying down together as they gazed at the stars._

"_You're leaving tomorrow," Aria said sadly. "I'll only have Regulus to play with."_

_Sirius laughed. "What's wrong with Regulus?"_

_She snorted. "He always does what his Mummy says."_

_Sirius shook his head, smiling. "I suppose that's Reggie for you."_

_Aria didn't respond for a while. Then, quietly, "You don't want to be in Slytherin."_

_Sirius nodded._

"_But why?" she asked curiously. "Everyone in the family's been in Slytherin."_

"_Aria, do you believe that we're better than everyone else, because we're pureblood?"_

_She hesitated before whispering, "No."_

"_There you have it. I don't either. I won't be in Slytherin, and neither will you."_

_Aria looked extremely uncomfortable. "Mother would kill me."_

_Sirius shrugged. "I would never let that happen."_

Sirius was sorted into Gryffindor the following night. One year later, however, the Sorting Hat's cry of _"Slytherin!" _as it touched Aria's tiny little head bothered him more than he let on. He confronted her about it the following night.

"_I can't disappoint them, Sirius," she said wildly, looking around to see if anyone was watching, "and I can't keep talking to you like this. I'm sorry."_

That was the last time they had spoken at Hogwarts.

Watching his childhood friend being chummy with Prongs was confusing.

… Also, if he had to be honest, it bothered him.

Sirius had spent the next few years avoiding Aria like the plague, and she had behaved similarly. When Sirius and James pranked the Slytherins, Sirius could never bring himself to allow any harm to befall her, and inadvertently prevented any pranks from affecting her directly.

He had believed that they would never meet again. He had been wrong.

"_Sirius!" Aria said, looking panicked. "You have to leave, __**now**__."_

_Sirius had just come home for the holidays. It was the summer before sixth year, and he had just come to terms with the fact that he was stuck under his parents' miserable roof for yet another terrible vacation._

_He had been shocked when Aria Fawley, whom he had not spoken to in years, burst into his room._

"_What're you doing here?" he blurted out stupidly._

_She simply shook her head. "There isn't enough time for that. You need to pack. Do you have anywhere you can stay until school starts again?"_

"_I don't understand, what's going on?"_

_She made a frustrated noise, then began piling things into his semi-packed trunk._

_She spoke quickly and quietly. "Sirius, in an hour's time, Lord Voldemort is going to be here and demand your allegiance to him."_

_Sirius shuddered. "And if I say no?"_

"_You'll die."_

"_But what about Regulus? He can't wait to join, he said so himself!"_

_Aria looked at him, exasperated. "Regulus isn't sixteen yet."_

"_Fuck," he swore._

"_You need to get out," she said frantically._

"_Wait, what about you?" Sirius asked worriedly._

_She shook her head. "I'll be fine. Now GO!"_

_Trunk packed, broomstick ready, Sirius leaped out of his window, mounting his broomstick as he flew as fast as he could away from the hellhole he knew as home._

If it hadn't been for Aria… Sirius couldn't even begin to imagine the terrible fate that had awaited him.

"Right-o," James said, the three of them having finished the large meal, "let's get onto business."

Aria smiled. "James, this is Bea Shafiq. Bea, this is James."

The two nodded.

"Bea wants to join," Aria said almost nervously.

Sirius was caught unawares. _Join __**what**__?_

James was silent for a moment. "Are you sure she can be trusted?"

Aria nudged Bea. "Tell him why, Bea."

Sirius noted that Shafiq seemed rather disinterested. But then, most Slytherins tended to bear that haughty, above-it-all expression.

She spoke briefly and ended abruptly. "I can't be a Death Eater."

Sirius was even more confused. What was happening here?

James looked unconvinced. "Right, so now you want to sell your fellow classmates out?"

Bea nodded. "Yes."

"Uh huh," he said warily, turning to Aria, "and you're absolutely sure we can trust her?"

Aria sighed. "James, if I thought we couldn't trust her, I wouldn't be putting my life on the line here."

Bea stood up abruptly. "Look, I'll let you discuss it. Aria will tell me your decision. I'm out of here."

She left through the same door she had entered through.

Aria looked amused. "That's Bea, through and through. Ever so impatient."

James groaned. "Why did you bring her here? You do realize what would happen if she were to turn on us!"

Aria laughed sardonically. "I'm risking my life right now just by doing this. I wouldn't be foolish enough to let her join if I thought she would give me up to the others."

James looked properly abashed. "Right, I'm sorry."

"It's fine," she said, in the same amused tone. "Sometimes, I forget I'm dealing with a Gryffindor. I've never had the same prejudices towards you lot that the rest of my house has, so I occasionally fail to realize that you find us unbearable."

"Some of you more so than others," James said teasingly. "There's this one Slytherin, I think her surname's Fawley? She's an utter nightmare to be around."

Aria stuck her tongue out at him, and he merely laughed it off.

Sirius couldn't remember the last time he'd seen her so relaxed. Being a Slytherin (and a Death Eater in the making) came along with stiff postures and cruel gazes.

He had trouble admitting it, but he missed Aria. She had been the only pureblood he could be truthful about his beliefs with, and now he had no one. Andromeda barely counted – he rarely saw her now that she had a husband and a little girl.

Suddenly, a couch appeared in the room. James gasped. "Aria Fawley, you sly witch."

Aria laughed. "I'm afraid the room caught me again."

Smiling, the two sat down together. Aria rested her head on his shoulder. "Thank goodness I took the time to learn Occlumency."

James put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head.

Sirius was stupefied. Aria and _James_? James and _Aria_? What about Evans? How had this even happened? James with a _Slytherin_? His mind continued to run amuck.

James nodded thoughtfully, stroking her hair. "So what happens now?"

"What do you mean?" she murmured.

"With Bea," he rectified.

Aria sighed. "I think she could help. She _is_ marrying Regulus after all – she's bound to be able to get more information that way. Besides, if we were to turn her away now… I trust her, but I'm worried about what she would do with this kind of information. _I_ may have fooled the hat, but Bea really is a Slytherin through and through."

James raised an eyebrow. "You really think she'd give you up to Voldemort?"

"Maybe."

"Then it's settled. Tell her to pass on any information to you."

"Are you sure?" Aria asked cautiously.

James looked resolute. "I'm not letting anything happen to you because I couldn't let go of a stupid prejudice."

Aria smiled softly. "Alright, James."

"Er… you haven't told her about _this_ have you?" James asked nervously.

Aria's eyes widened. "About what?"

"Uhm, _this_," James said, stressing on the second word.

"What is this?" Aria asked innocently.

He groaned. "You know what I mean."

She laughed. "You're too easy, Jimmy."

"Don't call me Jimmy!" he protested.

She grinned. "Don't worry, I haven't told a soul. I mean, _this_ – _us_… it's a lot more trouble than you'd think."

_So why go through it? _Sirius wondered. She hadn't even wanted to be friends with him once he'd been Sorted. So why was she dating James?

"Oh, and before I forget," Aria said suddenly, "I have some information for you."

What happened next shocked Sirius beyond belief.

"They're recruiting," she continued tersely. "Not just fifth years anymore, mind you. They're looking from third years up."

James frowned. "Why?"

"I don't know," she said helplessly. "They might be planning something. We haven't gotten any other information from Voldemort. We just do his bidding. We're not permitted to ask questions."

_Why was she telling him this?_ Sirius couldn't understand why she was spilling the Death Eaters' darkest secrets. Unless…

"Right," James said, "anything else?"

She took a deep breath. "They're beginning to look into other houses, starting with the 'Claws. Snape is even talking about the teachers."

James looked horrified. "_What_? None of the Hogwarts' staff would _ever_ join Voldemort!"

Aria shook her head. "Apparently there's someone _already there_."

James tensed. "Any guesses whom?"

Aria shrugged. "If I'd have to wager on it, I'd say the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. He's new. I've heard that he's a skilled Occlumens – meaning he'd easily be able to get past Dumbledore."

James swore. "I have to tell him first thing in the morning. I can't believe we didn't see this coming."

She rubbed his shoulders. "Relax, it's not your fault. Most of Hogwarts' staff has been here for decades, no one would ever suspect them of being on Voldemort's side."

James sighed. "I suppose you're right."

Aria smiled at him. "Now, we only have a couple of hours before I have to go back to being a snobby snake, and I'd like to spend them with you in a better mood. So lighten up," she said teasingly.

For the next two hours, Sirius had to struggle not to make a sound as his childhood best friend and his current best friend… _canoodled_, for lack of a better word, talking about Death Eaters, schoolwork and other nonsense. He had to look away every time they kissed – he couldn't decide if it was because he was disgusted or annoyed.

Most likely, he was both.

Eventually, Aria reluctantly removed herself from James' embrace. "I have to go," she muttered unhappily.

James looked similarly displeased. "I know. I'd walk you back to your Common Room, but…"

She smiled reassuringly. "It's alright, James. Same time next week?"

James grinned. "Cool."

"Cool."

"Well alright then."

Aria waved as she opened the door and left.

James collapsed onto the sofa, grinning.

Sirius had absolutely no clue what in the world was happening anymore. From what he'd observed, it was obvious that there was more to this meeting than a sneaky Gryffindor-Slytherin romance. In spite of himself, he smiled. He'd always known that Aria was never _truly_ one of **them** – and he was incredibly relieved to learn that his suspicions were more than accurate.

Did this mean that she was part of the Order as well? She was clearly giving James information about the Death Eaters of Hogwarts. That wasn't something a loyal snake would do.

Sirius now had mixed emotions. For the first time in months, he finally knew what was going on with Prongs, but as he contemplated whether or not to share his newfound information with Moony, he had to ask himself why James had never thought to let him in on the secret too.

**A/N: IMPORTANT - There's something I wanted to address **_**right here**_**. If you have any questions about what direction this story's taking, ship-wise (because I'm aware that there are some staunch Lily/James shippers out there) feel free to review your query and I'll respond as best as I can (without giving away too much). **

**I love reviews and I adore followers. In particular, I'd like to know how you guys feel about my writing. I'm having a particularly difficult writing day so I apologize for disjointedness/sloppiness/etc.**


	5. Chapter 4

James left the room barely ten minutes after Aria.

Sirius exited soon after and was surprised to see the door disappear behind him. He quietly made his way back up to Gryffindor tower, passing James. He entered the dormitory and crawled into his bed barely minutes before James snuck back in as well.

Soon he heard the sounds of James' heavy breathing, indicating that he had fallen asleep. Sirius, on the other hand, was wide awake.

The question of the hour was: what would he do next? Did it make more sense to directly confront James, or to let it go entirely? Remus would know what to do, Sirius reasoned. And so he decided that before making any decision, he would speak to his friend with the furry little problem. Content, he too joined the world of dreams.

The following morning, however, it seemed as if the world had flipped on itself. James had vanished long before the boys had woken up. Peter, too, had gone missing, which was even more unusual – the boy was a heavy sleeper and usually missed at least the first class of the morning.

Remus, Sirius and Frank (Longbottom) were left to stare quizzically at each other. Frank, not being as close to the others, thought little of it and stepped into the restroom to shower before breakfast. Sirius sighed. "Moony," he said heavily, "there's something you need to know."

Remus cocked an eyebrow. "What, that you used the cloak to follow James last night?"

Sirius gaped. "How could you have possibly known about that?"

"The first full moon is coming up," Remus said quietly. "I don't sleep very well around this time, remember? I decided to take out the map to pass the time, and well… I saw you following him."

Sirius nodded slowly. "So then you saw where we went."

"No, I didn't," Remus said carefully. "You disappeared from the map soon afterwards."

Sirius was shocked. "What do you mean? We never left Hogwarts!"

"Really?" Remus was shocked. "Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes!" Sirius said, exasperated. "A door appeared across that tapestry of the barmy idiot with the trolls!"

Remus Lupin was a highly intelligent wizard. Seeing him so befuddled was a rare sight indeed. Yet Sirius could not appreciate this moment - he was just too confused. It wasn't possible that he'd merely imagined everything… was it?

Remus frowned. "Okay, so what happened with James?"

As Sirius recounted the story of last night's proceedings**,** Remus' expression became increasingly disturbed.

"Sirius…" Remus said uneasily, "I don't understand."

"Don't you get it?" Sirius said, frustrated. "James is getting information from Death Eaters to help the Order!"

Remus laughed. "That's not what I meant – I mean, why would James have to keep it a secret from us?"

Sirius shrugged. "I don't know, to protect their identities?"

Remus groaned. "You realize how weak that excuse is, right?"

Sirius shrugged. "It makes sense to me." At that moment, Frank exited the restroom, causing the two Marauders to fall silent. Frank gazed at them curiously. The Marauders had often felt slightly bad for the guy – he was a rather nice bloke, but somehow he had never quite fit into the group. Fortunately, Longbottom had found his place with several friendly Ravenclaws, so there was little guilt shared by the two as the former gathered his things and left the dorms.

Once he was sure that Frank was out of earshot, Sirius spoke. "What do we do, Moony?"

Remus was silent. Then: "Let's figure out where Wormtail is. Together, the three of us will come up with a plan to confront James once and for all."

Peter had been easy enough to find – he had been lurking about in the kitchens, hoping to secure some cheese for his mid-morning snack.

For the first time in his life, Remus Lupin skived off a class (at Sirius and Peter's urging, of course) to discuss strategy.

"Right," Remus said, feeling slightly important. James usually led all of the meetings in their group, so it was a welcome change to be in charge for once. "This is Operation Confront Prongs. Any ideas?"

Peter was the first to jump in. "We'll enchant the doors of the Great Hall so that James can't enter. Then we could bribe him with food!" he said, his beady eyes glowing.

Sirius scoffed. "Yes, because James has absolutely no idea where the kitchens are."

Peter deflated instantly. Remus stepped in hastily. "That was a clever idea, Wormtail."

Peter beamed.

"However, Sirius is right, we need something far more ingenious."

The three racked their brains for a good ten minutes. However, all three came up empty. "Hang on," Sirius said, "do we even know where Prongs is?"

"I've got the Map right here," Remus said, taking it out from his schoolbag. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

They pored over their customized map of Hogwarts. About five minutes into the search, Peter spotted something. "Look, over there!"

Sirius was unsurprised to see the dot labeled "James Potter" walking towards a familiar area of the seventh floor. All too soon, his name suddenly vanished.

Remus sighed. "This is exactly what happened last night."

"Hang on," Sirius said, caught by a sudden stroke of brilliance. "Look for Aria Fawley."

"There has to be an easier way of doing this," Remus muttered. After checking every section of the Map, they were forced to admit that she was nowhere to be found.

"She must be with Prongs then," Sirius said.

Remus groaned. "Do you know how to get into the room?"

"James sort of walked back and forth a few times."

Twenty minutes later, three-fourths of The Marauders were on the seventh floor. Together, they began to pace. Nothing happened.

"We must be doing it wrong," Remus said, exhausted.

Peter suddenly piped up. "What about that Bea girl? She was there with Fawley, wasn't she?"

Sirius appeared ready to dismiss the idea immediately, but then Remus joined in. "You did say that Bea was to pass information through Aria - which would indicate that Bea is not with Aria and James right now."

Five minutes of map-searching ("This is taking far too long," said a very cross Remus) later, Peter spotted Bea Shafiq's dot in the Library.

"The library? But I've been banned from ever setting foot in there again!" Sirius said.

"So have I," Peter said dejectedly.

"Then I'll go," Remus replied determinedly.

As the group trudged down to the Library, Remus found himself wondering if he could really pull this off.

James Potter had always been confident with girls – at times overly so.

Sirius Black had half the female population swooning after him.

Even Peter Pettigrew had a few oddballs interested in his mild nature.

Remus Lupin could not say that he had any sort of real experience with girls outside of classes, especially not Slytherin ones. However, for the second time today, he prepared to do something he would never normally do – and just for the sake of the first friend to ever see him for more than an abomination.

Remus could still remember the night he confessed his secret to James, Sirius and Peter.

The trio had figured it out. Between Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons, Astronomy charts and Remus' odd behavior, it hadn't taken much for them to piece together the information required to determine that Remus Lupin's furry little problem wasn't quite that of a badly behaved rabbit.

It had taken some coaxing and prodding before Remus finally 'fessed up and admitted being what he was.

It had almost been as if Sirius and Peter had wished that they were wrong. Remus understood: however far away Sirius had tried to get from his family, some of their beliefs were so strongly ingrained into him that he still wasn't entirely onboard with the concept of having a werewolf for a best friend. Peter, on the other hand, was just plain terrified.

James, conversely, hadn't even needed a second. The confession was barely out of his mouth when James had wrapped the other boy in a firm embrace and said, with such conviction, that he would accept him just as he was. Sirius and Peter followed soon after; however, Remus would never forget that it was James who had been the first to step up in such a big way.

James would never understand it, but it was for this very reason that Remus would do practically anything for him. And so, Remus pushed away his fear of the opposite sex and summoned all of his Gryffindor courage to approach Bea Shafiq where she sat in the Library. Fortunately (and Remus could not stress upon this enough), she was alone.

"Hi," Remus said, as he neared the table where she sat, "do you have a minute?"

Bea looked at him suspiciously. "Are you going to prank me now? Because if that's the case then I certainly have no time for the likes of you."

Remus sighed, rubbing his forehead warily. "No, it's about James."

"What about Potter?" she asked haughtily.

"I know what you and Aria have been doing with him," Remus said simply.

Bea's eyebrows shot up to her forehead. "But he said that no one else, bar Dumbledore, had any clue what was going on!"

"Long story short, Sirius followed him into that room on the seventh floor, and now we need to get back in. Except" - he hesitated - "we don't know how."

"Why should I help you?" she asked carelessly.

Remus hated himself for what he did next. "

Severus Snape is my Potions partner. We have plenty of opportunities to converse. I'd hate to think of what he'd do to you if he found out..."

Bea looked at him long and hard. "So we're resorting to blackmail, are we? How Slytherin of you."

Remus shook his head, laughing slightly. "No, this is probably more on the Hufflepuff scale of things."

Bea appeared confused, and Remus knew there was no real way to explain it to her.

After some thought, she told him exactly how to get the door to open. "But be careful," she added as he was about to leave, "James sometimes makes the room Unplottable, meaning you won't actually be able to get ahold of him until he leaves. However, this isn't their normal time to pass information, so if it's just him and Aria up there, then he may have gotten distracted and forgotten completely."

Remus was perplexed. Sensing this, Bea rolled her eyes. "They are a real couple, you know. So they probably had things other than the Order in mind when they went up to the room."

Remus felt as though his face was on fire as he left the Library.

Armed with the new information, Sirius, Remus and Peter headed back up to the seventh floor. Taking a deep breath, they paced back and forth, thinking, I need to see the place where James is, until the third time when the door appeared.

"See?" Sirius said triumphantly. "I knew it was here."

Remus rolled his eyes and gingerly opened the door.

Nothing could've prepared them for the sight they faced.

_"Imperio!"_

**A/N: I love how inspiration struck me right after I put up that ridiculous Author's Note.**


	6. I PROMISE I'M NOT QUITTING

**Author's Note**

**Listen, guys, I've been sick for the past few days and I need some time to clear my head about which direction I want the story to go in.**

**I will definitely update within 48 hours.**

**Much love ****xx**


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